Railing



H. T. COUGLE June 4, 1963 RAILING Filed Feb. 1'7, 1961 FIG. 3.

27 INVENTOR.

FlG l.

FIGS.

HARRY T. COUGLE ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,092,372 RAILING Harry T.Cougle, 1101 Herbert St., Philadelphia 24, Pa. Filed Feb. 17, 1961, Ser.No. 89,964 2 Claims. (Cl. 256-22) This invention relates to improvementsin a railing, balustrade or the like, and more particularly concernsimprovements in indoor stair railings having upright support membersmade of ornamental ironwork.

It has long been a problem to provide an ornamental ironwork uprightsupport member which may be easily substituted for the wood spindles ina wood indoor stair railing. The height of the handrail from the treadof the steps, and the slope of the handrail, are not uniform from onerailing installation to the next, and depend to some extent on thecontractor who installed each particular railing. In one house, thestairs are designed to cover a certain horizontal distance, and this mayrequire the handrail to be set at 45 degrees in order to extend from thetop to the bottom of the stairs. In another house, the stairs may haveto extend a. different horizontal distance which may require that thehandrail be set at an angle of 42 degrees, or at an angle of 48 degrees,and

so on.

If it is desired to replace the wood spindles, and the dimensions areknown, it is a simple job to manufacture ornamental ironwork spindles ofthe proper height. However, these ironwork spindles are custom made andare therefore expensive.

Another problem is that the removal of the wooden spindles uncovers theholes in the tread of the step which received the dowel pins at thebottom of the wood spindles, and this presents an unsightly appearance.These dowel pins support the bottom of the wood spindle in theconventional wood indoor stair railing, the top of the spindle being cutto fit flush with the bottom of the handrail and being nailed thereto.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to overcome theaforementioned problems and to provide a railing or the like havingupright support members made of ornamental ironwork adapted to replacewood spindles.

It is another object to provide a railing having ornamental ironworkupright support members which are adapted to fit handrails of any heightor slope.

It is another object to provide a rail-ing having ornamental ironworkupright support members which may be inexpensively made by massproduction methods.

It is another object to provide a railing having ornamental ironworkupri-ght support members which are part of a do-it-yourself kit and maybe easily installed by unskilled workmen or by the home owner himself.

It is another object to provide such a support mem her, the installationof which requires the use of only very simple tools such as ascrewdriver and a keyhole saw, or a hacksaw.

It is another object of this invention to provide a railin'g havingornamental ironwork upright support members which are adapted to replacewood spindles and which are constructed in such a fashion as to makeunnecessary the filling of the holes in the step tread which formerlyreceived the dowel pins at the bottom of the wood spindle.

Other objects and advantages of this invention, including its simplicityand economy, as well as the ease with which it may be adapted toexisting railings, will further become apparent hereinafter and in thedrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial view in side elevation of a railing constructed inaccordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in section, on an enlarged scale, taken Patented June4, 1963 "ice 2 as indicated by the lines and arrows 2-2 which appear inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial view of an ornamental ironwork support member andillustrates part of its installation procedure;

FIG. 4 is a view in top plan, on an enlarged scale, of an ornamentalironwork upright support member and illustrates the construction of itsadapter member;

FIG. 5 is a view in top plan, on an enlarged scale, of an ornamentalironwork upright support member and illustrates an adapter member ofmodified construction; and

FIG. 6 is .a view in side elevation of a railing construoted inaccordance with this invention and illustrates another upright supportmember of modified construction.

Although specific terms are used in the following description forclarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the structure shownin the drawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of theinvention.

Turning now to the specific embodiments of the invention selected forillustration in-the drawings, there is shown an indoor stair railingwhich includes a wood handrail 11 supported on the steps of the stairsby: wood newel post 12, ornamental ironwork upright support members1315, and wood spindle 16. Wood spindle 16 may be replaced by anornamental ironwork support if desired.

'16 is sawed at an angle so that it fits flush against the bottom 23 ofhandrail 11, and the nails 24 attach the top of wood spindle 16 tohandrail 11.

Wood spindles 16 are remove-d by withdrawing nails 24 and removing dowelpin 17 (which is formed integral with wood spindle 16) from holes 18which are thus uncovered and present an unsightly appearance.

Ornamental ironwork upright support member 15 includes a body element inthe form of a scroll 25, a base plate 26 which is welded as at 29 to thebottom of scroll 25 and covers holes 27 in tread 28, and an adaptermember 31 extending between the top of scroll 25 and the bottom 23 ofhandrail 11. The top surface 32 of adapter member 31 fits flush againstthe bottom 23 of handrail 11.

Base plate 26 is provided with a pair of screw holes 34 through which apair of screws 33 fasten base plate 26 to tread 28. Holes 34 are formedin the corners of base plate 26 so that the handle of a conventionalscrewdriver is not obstructed by the scroll 25 during installation.

Adapter member 31 is in the form of a hollow tube which is welded as at30 to the top of scroll 25 around an adapter opening 35. A wood screw 36is positioned in adapter hole 35 and in the bore of adapter member 31,and is screwed into handrail 11 to fasten adapter member 31 and scroll25 thereto.

Ornamental ironwork upright support member 14 is constructed in the samefashion as support member 15 except that its body element is in the formof an ornamental ironwork spindle having four legs, 4144, and isprovided with base plate 26' which is fastened to tread 28 through thescrew holes 34". Legs 42 and 43 are shown as being made of twisted bars.

Support member 13 (FIG. 6) is especially designed for the short treadnext to newel post 12 and is shown having two twisted bar legs 45, 46.

FIG. 4 illustrates the tube conformation of adapter member 31, and FIG.5 illustrates the conformation of an adapter member 47 extending fromscroll 25a which is square in cross section with a drilled hole 35aextending therethrough. In general, the outer surface of the adaptermember of FIGS. 1-5 may have any conforma- V v 3 tion just so long asthere is an opening therethrough to pass the screw 36.

FIG. 6 illustrates a modified adapter member which may be solid insteadof hollow, if desired; This solid adapter member 48 is installed in adifierent fashion from that of the hollow adapter members-31 and 47, ashereinafter described. 7

In installing the upright support members having the hollow adaptermembers such as member 31, the base 26 is placed on stair tread 28 andthe adapter member 31 is brought in contact with the side of handrail 11as shown in FIG. 3. It is to be noted that the top of adapter member 31extends above the bottom 23 of handrail 11.

A scribe mark coincident with the slope of bottom 23 is made on adaptermember 31, and the top surface 32 of adapter member 31 is then out alongthat slope so that top surface 52 fits flush against bottom 23; ofhandrail 11. After this has been accomplished with a keyhole saw or ahacksaw, a screwdriver is used to install the bottom plate screws 33 andthe adapter member screw 36. The installation of adapter member 48 issomewhat different in that a hole 51 is drilled in the bottom 23 ofhandrail 11 and adapter member 48 is cut short enough to seat in thehole 51. Then the bottom plate screws are screwed into the tread of thestep through the holes 34 in base plate 26'. 7

Accordingly, ornamental ironwork upright support elements are providedwhich are adapted to fit handrails of any height or slope. Suchsupporting elements may be inexpensively made on a mass productionbasis. They are especially adapted for replacing the wood spindles inindoor stair railings, and cover the holes in the treads which areexposed by the removal of the wood spindles.

Ornamental ironwork upright support members constructed in accordancewith this invention may be provided in a do-i-t-yourself kit and 'areeasily installed by unskilled workmen or by the home owner. requires theuse of only the simplest tools.

Ornamental ironwork upright support members constructed in accordancewith this invention are especially advantageous in, and add a safetyfeature to, railings of stairs going down to cellars which have beenconverted into play rooms. Most railings of cellar stairs are notprovided with spindles and usually include only a handrail, or perhapsone other rail located midway between the handrail and the treads of thesteps. Installation of the upright support elements of this invention insuch railings makes them safer, and prevents children from fallingthrough the railing to the floor of the converted playroom.

Installation It is to be understood that the form of the inventionherewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodiment.Various changes may be made in the shape, size and arrangement of parts.For example, equivalent elements may be substituted for thoseillustrated and described, parts may be reversed, and certain featuresof the invention may be utilized independently of the use of otherfeatures, all without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention .as defined in the subjoined claims.

I claim:

:1. A railing for an indoor stairs having a flight of steps with treadshaving holes formed therein which received the dowel pin at the bottomof wood spindles, comprising a wood handrail, an ornamental ironworkscroll, a

base plate fixedly connected to the bottom of said scroll and coveringsaid holes in the tread of the step, said base plate having a pair ofscrew holes formed therein, a pair of screws positioned in said screwholes and fastening said base plate to said tread, an adapter tubefixedly connected to the top of said scroll, the top surface of theadapter tube fitting flush against the bottom of said ihandnail, saidscroll having anadapter opening formed therein leading to the bore ofsaid tube, and a screw positioned in said adapter hole and said tube andfastening said tube and scroll to said handrail.

2. In a railing for an indoor; stairs or the like, an ornamentalironwork upright support member for supporting a wood handrail,comprising an ornamental ironwork scroll, a base plate supporting saidscroll and detachably connectable to a tread of a step or the like, ahollow adapter member extending between the top of said scroll and thebottom of said wood handrail, the top of the :adapter memberfittingfiush against the bottom of said handrail, and fastening meanspositioned inside said hollow adapter member and connecting said scrolland said adapter member to said handrail whereby said sup port member isinstalled with said handrail in place in tixed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,691,663 Morris Nov. 13, 1928 1,8395%11 Sommer Jan. 5, 1932 1,840,048Michelman' Jan. 5, 1932 2,655,345 Lindman Oct. 13, 1953 2,881,016 WagnerApr. 7, 1959 Woodward Oct. 17, 1961

1. A RAILING FOR AN INDOOR STAIRS HAVING A FLIGHT OF STEPS WITH TREADSHAVING HOLES FORMED THEREIN WHICH RECEIVED THE DOWEL PIN AT THE BOTTOMOF WOOD SPINDLES, COMPRISING A WOOD HANDRAIL, AN ORNAMENTAL IRONWORKSCROLL, A BASE PLATE FIXEDLY CONNECTED TO THE BOTTOM OF SAID SCROLL ANDCOVERING SAID HOLES IN THE TREAD OF THE STEP, SAID BASE PLATE HAVING APAIR OF SCREW HOLES FORMED THEREIN, A PAIR OF SCREWS POSITIONED IN SAIDSCREW HOLES AND FASTENING SAID BASE PLATE TO SAID TREAD, AN ADAPTER TUBEFIXEDLY CONNECTED TO THE TOP OF SAID SCROLL, THE TOP SURFACE OF THEADAPTER TUBE FITTING FLUSH AGAINST THE BOTTOM OF SAID HANDRAIL, SAIDSCROLL HAVING AN ADAPTER OPENING FORMED THEREIN LEADING TO THE BORE OFSAID TUBE, AND A SCREW POSITIONED IN SAID ADAPTER HOLE AND SAID TUBE,AND FASTENING SAID TUBE AND SCROLL TO SAID HANDRAIL.